LCK In The News

"Many children can also experience lingering symptoms after getting COVID-19. But scientists are struggling for answers, so parents are banding together to find treatments and warn others of the risks...

Although Sammie McFarland was suffering similar symptoms herself and could barely get off the couch, she felt she had to do something. So eight months ago she created a Facebook group, Long Covid Kids, for parents to find one another; it has grown to more than 3,000 members. Last month the group spun off its American members into Long Covid Kids USA, headed by Melissa Lynch."

The clinical definition of long COVID in children is at present very limited and poorly understood by doctors, according to a new report published today. The report also found that symptoms typically associated with long COVID were having a significant physical and psychological impact on children’s day-to-day lives.

"When 16-year-old Liliana Jackson caught Coronavirus she thought it would only last a week or two.

But months later she was experiencing repeated flare-ups including skin rashes, nerve pain, chest cramps and severe fatigue.

But her and her mother Gail, who live in the East Midlands in the UK, felt let down by doctors who they say at first, didn't take them seriously."

"Anna Hendy, from Westhill in Aberdeenshire, contracted the virus last April.

Since then she has suffered from headaches, muscle aches and nausea as well as extreme tiredness. She hasn’t yet been able to return to school and is having to study from home."

Anna's mother, Helen Goss of Long Covid Kids Scotland, is calling for specialist clinics to be set up across Scotland.

Nicola Haseler BBC Look East reports on Long Covid Hubs for Long Covid Kids.

We look forward to seeing the hubs in action and hope they provide the help families desperately need.